Is Madrid intimidating?
 

Why am I shy about spending my 12-hr layover in that beautiful city? I have no problem with Paris, Rome or London, but this one has me unsure. Is is because few people speak English? We'll take the metro in to Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor for the day, but will we find lots of shops closed for siesta? We're not museum people, we like to shop and explore the neighborhoods. We'll probably just hop aboard a tour bus. What time should we leave Plaza del Sol to get the the airport for our 12:30am flight? Maybe that's what's making me nervous!

Forgot to mention we'll be there Dec 11th which is a Thursday.

Absolutely no reason to be nervous. If you can handle Paris and Rome, Madrid will be a breeze. People are very friendly and many, many speak English.

The center of the city is very walkable and beautiful. If you can't find enough open shops mid-day to keep you busy - just grab an hot chocolate and churros or tow to tide you over...

As for how much time to leave ? See how long it takes you coming in and add an hour so you won't be stressed.

-Kevin

if i liked shopping, i would SKIP the metro and take the red bus out front of your terminal ( cross over oteh bus lanes) which will take you to the intercambiador.

Bus 200, or 204 if you leave from terminal 4. I find this much more relaxing than going underground. Much easier on the feet, also. No transfers, nothing!

it costs one euro (maybe it has gone up)and will take you to the exact "entrance" of madrid, walkable now to the best shopping area (serrano) or a short taxi ride (maybe 7 euros) to the Prado.

This is an underground bus station, so ask someone which exit is best for calle serrano, go up there, and just start to walk DOWN the slight hill. The street has a lane that some cars take a sharp turn LEFT, which now is calle Serrano.

here is a private palatial home turned into museum with the owner's art collection you might find interesting. you will walk past it.

http://www.flg.es/fundacion/fundacion.htm

there is a helpful map so you can see the way i am telling you to walk from the bus station (which is also a metro station).

Eventually along this street you will come to the American Embassy on your right, and then the entire street for BLOCKS is full of shops.

Lots of good eateries around, too.

The streets parallel to Serrano are also very interesting full of boutiques. As you go down Serrano, the streets parallel up to your left are in the barrio Salamanca.

Great strudel and coffee at El Séptimo on diego de leon. (this is the street that ends at American Embassy)They also have a restaurant during normal hours which i enjoy when i am in madrid.

www.elseptimo.com

You can also take the tourist bus once you are in town, which i highly recommend for such an extended layover. This is when you can get out and see the plaza mayor, etc.. do not miss it and some of the cave bars.

be at the intercambiador avenida america for bus at 10.00 pm/or take taxi a bit later assuming you have boarding passes. give yourself extra 15 mins for terminal four.

i certainly would not be spending much time at plaza de sol. it is seedy and busy and NOT the nicest area of Madrid.

How would you feel about 12 hours in Bangkok or Nairobi or Beijing?

Honestly, it's a wonderful European city,

The fact that you can ask says a lot. Isn't Spain one of the USA's allies? Makes one wonder why Europe bothers when you are so stressed by the idea of spending 12 hours in the capital of one of the EU's major players.

But then maybe you DON'T KNOW that Spain is an EU member. It's also quite possible, I guess, that you don't know what EU means.

And why the F*** should everyone speak English?

Pathetic.

I loved Madrid and did not find it intimidating at all.

Please ignore the very rude comments by Afterall.

Sounds like you just don't know much about it. Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor are major central areas with lots of tourists and business activity (the Grand Via is another, and the area around the Prado is very nice with large green and park areas). They aren't taking siestas in capital cities like this, in major business and tourist areas, that I ever noticed. People can't take siestas in modern society in cities.

The shops in Madrid most definitely observe siesta - at least the last time I was there in Nov 07. Shops close for about 2 hours, not sure of the times exactly. Puerto Del Sol area reminds me of Times Square in NY. You got one small hub crowded with people and shops, and of course your average array of pickpocketers and the like... though Times Square is a lot safer these days. I would just be aware of the crowds, and not put anything in your pockets. My husband and I witnessed a couple of pick pockets scams. Also it takes about 30-40 mins to get to the airport from Puerto Del Sol. Our hotel wasnt too far from the center, so its about that much time. One more advice, dont call for a taxi, just hail one in the street. The taxi meters start and will charge you from the point they leave their post, and not from the point they pick you up. Definitely check out Madrid. Its one of my favorite cities. Its quintessentially still a very Spanish city. oh and the Prado, a not to be missed museum! have fun. I know we did!

CHRISTINA: Are you certain that many Madrid shops do not take a mid-day break ? I would have thought otherwise.

Christina, not sure where you get the idea that cities cant take siestas, because when i think about it, all of Spain observed siesta including Madrid and Barcelona.

Thanks everyone except the jerk, whatever his name was. Guess he left his brain behind when he took the sewer tour. Lincasanova, that's just what I want and will study all the suggestions and links. Gracias.

about lunchtime closures. many smaller boutiques will close if they are family run, but even some of the smaller shops if near the larger shops that do NOT close do stay open to catch the business.

corte ingles, zara, cortefiel, do not close for lunch.

you MUST see the area of the prado and museums, even if you only go for coffee at the thyseen. it has a lovely café.

also, the plaza de ciblees (used to be the most beautiful post office in the world) now houses the city hall.

the castellana has a lot of nice fountains up and down, which i might be tempted to make sure you saw lit up, depending on the time of year you go.

the tourist bus will take you everywhere.in fact, there is a stop outside that museum on your way over to calle serrano! two more stops along serrano, too. so no problem.

http://www.madridvision.es/en/rutas.php?s=1

couldn't be easier.

sorry about ALL the typos!

I agree you shouldn't feel intimidated, as long as you anticipate the central tourist areas to be a bit busier/hectic/noisier than comparable locals in Paris, London or Rome. It's been a few years since I've been there, but the description of Puerta del Sol being like Times Square rings true to me, and too busy for my taste.

i have to disagree, the shops like Cortes Ingles, Zara, Sfera and even H&M were all closed near Puerto del Sol. I am talking about the shops along the perdestrian cobbled street. Forgive me but I forget the name of the street. But it is adjacent to Puerto del Sol and the reason why I remember it being closed on Friday afternoon, because we waited for about 1 1/2 hours in the nearby restaurant/coffee shop for Corte Ingles and Sfera to finally open. And it evenutally did!

Never seen department stores or major chain stores closed for siesta in Spain in the last couple of years.
The street you mentioned could be Preciados, going from Puerta del Sol to Callao.
Even when you check Corte Inglés' website, you will find that they open from 10 to 10 on weekdays. Also stores like Zara or fnac or similar are open. Actually, I did my shopping at all of them during "siesta".
I will agree, though, that several years ago, more smaller stores observed the siesta than today (only IME).

I went to Madrid alone last September. My Spanish is limited at best, but I was fine. I loved the city and had a great time.

I took the same precautions that I take everyday in NYC and I honestly had no qualms about being in the city alone.

I should mention that I didn't take the subway. But I avoid that in NYC too.

The subway requires two transfers to get to P del S from the airport. Use the bus someone recommended earlier.

"but the description of Puerta del Sol being like Times Square rings true to me, and too busy for my taste. "


agree, did not like it at all.
I prefer Palace - Opera or Retiro -Prado, or Serrano-Salamanca
but if people are interested in shopping in dep. store, Gran Via and streets near Sol are o.k.

Enjoy tapas and sangria as well as walk around a part of the city that will make it easy for you to get back to the airport. One of my unforgettable experiences is having churros with a cup of thick chocolate at a cafe.

oh yes. churros and chocolate are a must, but let's have someone local suggest the BEST place.

bad churros (cold.. doughy.. greasy) are NOT fun.

I am trying to figure out why those large dept. stores would have been closed on a friday morning...?? very unusual, must have been some local reason.

hi portlander,

to get over the possible siesta problem, why not hit a restaurant when you arrive - remember the spanish eat at different times to lots of other people - so lunch starts late - 2-3pm isn't late by their standards - and Dinner even later.

you could fill in the gap with tapas!

seriously, a wander around the little streets, a nice long lunch, some shopping, then some tapas in a bar would make a great day.

although you say you are not museum people, do consider either the prado or the reina sophia - they are both great for an hour or two especially in cold/wet december.

have a great 12 hours,

regards, ann

My mouth is already watering for some churros and chocolate so I eagerly await the suggestions I know are forthcoming. So far, I think I want to visit Salamanca to window shop, have tapas and churros and take the city tour. Just to reconfirm, the best way to do this is to take the bus to intercambiador (I don't know what that is, a named stop?), get off and walk up and down to see what we find. Then we make our way to the tour bus stop, where we'll hop on and off and eventually leave the city by bus again to the aeropuerta T4. Does that seem like it will fill the hours from 9:00 to 21:00? Thanks for all the help. I'm not feeling so nervous anymore.

The intercambiador is at Avenida America, and is the bus/metro/long distance "changing point".

you arrive underground, go upstairs and walk DOWN Maria de Molina street, turning LEFT at Serrano (where a lot of traffic turns left). You culd also turn left before at claudia coello..which is parallel to Serrano and leads into the heart of salamanca area.

Actually, near or IN the bus station there may be a good churros place, as the turnover would be very good. Porras (fatter and "airier" type churros) are also delicious and found at MANY bars.

www.softguide-madrid.com has madrid by sections, and you can read a lot about the salamanca area and others.

since you don't have a lot of time and Madrid is a huge city, I would spend some money taking taxis .We took a cab from the ap. to the very center for about 25 euros.

she has a 12 hr layover. maybe 8-9 hours in town.

i agree, taxis IN the city are not expensive, but the bus to serrano area is a bargain and goes very quickly.

however, i agree some people would rather not lose the time spent looking for the bus, waiting 10 min for the next one.. etc., and just go for the taxi.

portlander, as you heard from the posters her, you can enjoy a slice of madrid on a 12 hour layover. just be very, very, very, very careful of your belongings, esp your purse and/or wallet. specially around the crowded areas like puerta del sol, plaza mayor and all those other areas where there are a lot of tourists. just like in other big cities, there are pickpockets, purse snatchers and other petty thieves so please be very vigilant and aware of your surroundings. if i may add, somehow these petty thieves seem to be doing brisk business in madrid (and barcelona) my first and lone and hopefully the last, experience with street crime-purse snatching-was in madrid steps away from our rental car, infront of the europcar office in the business district of salamanca.

hope you have a great time in madrid.

Thanks, all. Now I'm ready and rarin' to go. And yes, we'll be careful of our possessions --- husband says even HE can't get his wallet out of his front pocket without a struggle. Absolutely refuses to get a better looking wallet because this one fits in so tightly. Me? I'll do the dreaded money belt thing and leave the purse behind --- hurts my shoulder anyway during a day of touring. I kind of like the idea of a plastic bag (but won't do it) : ) .

Portlander I will be glad to give you he email address of a friend of mine who had the same attitude. For four trips -- no problems. In the Paris train station at the beginning of his fifth trip -- lost everything. And I mean everything. Since his wife carried a purse he deemed unsafe he carried everything in his front pocket -- two passports, credit cards, cash He, too, now uses a money belt. If you can get to it easily -- so can someone else.

Unfortunately Madrid has a culture of crime and you have to be so vigilant. From the cabbie, to the dishonest waiter, to the purse snatcher, they all feel entitled to your belongings. What bothers me is, they have no shame in what they do. I have confronted these people in the act, and there is no remorse.

There have been many many posts about crime in Madrid, and of course be careful with your belongings (do not hang your purse on the back of a chair, for example), but my daughter and I were there in August and we had no problems. We used the hop-on/hop-off bus because she was coming off a surgery for a broken ankle, but we also walked miles and miles - everywhere we didn't take the bus - shopped, ate, wandered, hit some museums, saw all the many squares and plazas, walked through Parque El Retiro, all for 3 full days in magnificent weather in late August. We were even worried about being ripped off by taxis and weren't (in fact, in answer to the other poster who said not to call for a taxi, but to hail one on the street, our hotel called one for us, it was there when we came downstairs, and the meter still didn't start running until we started driving). We stayed on the Calle Preciados which is a fun pedestrian shopping street (not high end). Madrid is just a lovely city -- the highrises seem to be relegated to the area out by the airport and the central area is populated by gorgeous old buildings. To me, it was much more of a place "to be" rather than a place to see specific tourist sites. We loved it.

"From the cabbie, to the dishonest waiter, to the purse snatcher,..."

We were in Madrid for a week and
never had problems with taxi drivers, the waiters or purse snatcher.

I've decided I'm not the least bit nervous anymore ... and now I see there's a Christmas Market in Plaza Mayor! So I see my day as: Salamanca, MadridVision bus tour, tapas, Plaza Mayor, churros and chocolate caliente, and walking, walking, walking. Forgot to ask, though, can we check our rollaboards at the airport for the day? We'll already have checked our bags thru to JoBurg, I hope. If we have a locker, I'll leave my purse in it.

there is a CONSIGNA (left luggage) also at the bus station (intercambiador). i think it is 2 euros/day.

lola, you would be surprised how safe nyc subways are. been safe for soooo many years now. when is the last time youve been to nyc? 1985??